As 2018 is winding down to a close, I want to take a moment to thank our donors and supporters that are part of the Arts Corps family. This year, we were able to reach more students in more places outside of Seattle than ever before. We worked with students and families in Burien, SeaTac, Kent, Renton, Tacoma, shoreline, and we were able to provide professional development for educators across North America.
It was also a big year for pop culture. We saw the rise, and still rising star of Cardi B, whom made one of the best albums of the year. Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize. Drake and Meek Mill resolved their beef, and released an end of year song that “slaps.” Black Panther came out this year (he also died this year, but that’s temporary 🤞🏿).
Most importantly, we saw young people step up and show us how to lead. From the students at Parkland, to the newly elected women to Congress, to Marley Diaz, the 13 year old founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, and youngest member of Forbes 30 under 30 list, young people are revolutionizing the future.
This makes me excited for 2019, and the work we will be doing at Arts Corps. Having finished the final year of the four year Highline Creative Schools Initiative, funded by the US DOE, we will be sharing our results very soon (spoiler alert: they are very good!). 2019 marks the five year anniversary of The Residency Program that we run in collaboration with MoPOP and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, so we are going to celebrate in style. We will also see the start of our new program Learning Immersive Technology (LIT), which is a partnership with Reel Grrls, where we are mentoring youth to not only become skilled in mixed media creation, but also provide concrete pathways to careers in digital media. Students will be working with the best mixed media teaching artists in the region, for half the week, and taking field trips to places like Microsoft, Amazon Music, Nintendo, Google, and more for the other half of the week. This is a new twist on STEM education, and it’s 🔥🔥🔥.
Of course, we will continue running amazing arts based programs, with a race and social justice lens, that ignite the creative power of youth. We are going to break through in 2019, and we can only do it with supporters like you.
There is still time to support Arts Corps in 2018. A one time gift of any size, or a monthly commitment of support, will help us to provide an even broader platform for youth in our region to express themselves creatively, have access to more immersive arts learning experiences, and for young people to have more opportunities to lead the transformation of our schools, neighborhoods, and beyond.
Click the Breakthrough image below to fuel more creative breakthroughs in 2019!
